B.Sc. ( State University, New York ), M.A. (UBC), Member Executive Council Province of British Columbia 1999 – 2001

Gordon F. D. Wilson was born in Vancouver in 1949 and raised in Kenya, East Africa, where his father worked as an anthropologist and his mother was a senior officer in the Ministry of Community Development.

Wilson studied in New York, Japan and Vancouver before embarking on a colourful career path. Prior to a successful fifteen year career in politics, Wilson was Professor of Economic Geography and Resource Management at Capilano College, focusing on regional economic development and land use planning. He served as President of the Faculty Association at Capilano College, and was the Association's chief negotiator in two rounds of labour negotiations. In his spare time, he helped found the Suncoast Players Theatre Company on the Sunshine Coast, where he wrote, directed, produced, and acted in a series of plays from satire to drama to children's Christmas specials. Gordon has written several original plays that have been successfully produced and performed. These include The Sundowning of Frank Tyler, Billy's Question, Blue Cheese and Jazz, and Sam. Wilson also served one term as President of the North Shore Zone of Theatre BC.

Wilson rose to provincial prominence when he took over the leadership of the then-moribund BC Liberal Party, which had not elected a member to the BC legislature in over a decade. His debate performance is credited for the stunning breakthrough the BC Liberals made in the 1991 general election, where they rose from obscurity to seventeen seats in parliament. Wilson became the first Liberal to lead the Official Opposition since 1952 when the Liberals governed as part of the coalition government. Wilson rose to national prominence for his leadership on the Charlottetown Accord constitutional debates, where he led the No side in the BC campaign.

Later, when an internal coup led by members of the Liberal caucus challenged his leadership, Wilson left the party to become Leader of the Progressive Democratic Alliance from December 1993 until he entered the Executive Council as a Cabinet Minister in January 1999. In 1996, Wilson wrote the B.C. bestseller A Civilized Revolution, which provided detailed analysis on public policy in British Columbia . Wilson broke with political convention in 1996 when he was re-elected to the legislature, this time as Leader of the Progressive Democratic Alliance. He was the most popular political leader in British Columbia for several years, even though his party did not have recognized status in the legislature due to a lack of additional seats.

Wilson joined the government to take on the most difficult portfolios, BC Ferries and the Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs, and immediately entered the heated debates to lead the government to final signature of the Nisga'a Treaty. As Minister of BC Ferries he oversaw the writing down of a billion dollar debt, bringing the corporation back to a position of financial viability. He also took hold of the ill-fated fast ferries program, initiating a review of the system, replacing the board, and bringing the program under control. He also restructured the BC Ferry Corporation, opened it up to greater accountability, and changed its mandate to make the ferries part of the highway system. Wilson went on to serve as Minister of Finance, Minister of International Trade, Minister of Education, and Minister of Employment and Investment for the government of British Columbia . He ended his political career while serving as Minister of Forests. He served as MLA for Powell River – Sunshine Coast from 1991 until 20001.

Today Wilson is President of the Maradadi Pacific Group of companies, which hold interests in trade initiatives with India in Construction, Training, and Export sectors, and in publishing, film production, Aboriginal consultancy, and real estate development.

Tyabji Wilson was born in Calcutta, India, and immigrated to Canada with her family when she was a small child. She grew up in the Okanagan, and later moved to Victoria, where she received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science in 1986. She became involved in politics in her late teens, working for the federal Liberal Party and then the BC Liberal Party. At the age of 23 she ran in a by-election in Penticton, and three years later was elected as MLA for Okanagan East ( Kelowna ) at the age of 26, when she was five months pregnant with her third child. She was the youngest MLA ever elected, and the first BC MLA to give birth while holding office. She was also the first Indo-Canadian female to serve in the BC legislature. While MLA, she served as House Leader for the Official Opposition, Environment Critic, and an active and outspoken member of the opposition. She also hosted a live radio show, The Judi Tyabji Show while serving as MLA.

In 1994, she published Political Affairs about a turbulent period in BC politics in which she was directly involved. After her term as MLA, Tyabji Wilson hosted and co-produced the daily live television program Tyabji, on CHEK TV in Victoria, dealing with current events in BC and Canada . She also worked in radio and newspapers as an editorialist and writing book reviews. In 1999, she moved to Powell River and was elected as Councillor for the District of Powell River, where she served on the Regional District, and as Chair of the Planning Committee until 2001. In 2002 she wrote Daggers Unsheathed, providing a detailed analysis of the rise and fall of Premier Glen Clark.

Tyabji Wilson has been an owner/operator in business prior to and after her political work, with professional work in marketing, communications, research, writing, production, analysis of legal, constitutional, and aboriginal issues, and experience in tourism and economic development. She is currently working in international trade, developing business ties between Canada and India .